Well-worn paths in your brain lead to breakthrough

“Creativity can be improved upon. The more you try out new things, the more skills you develop, the more creative you’ll become.”

“We have these thoughts in our head … electrochemical signals causing these neural networks to fire in certain ways. This firing translates to a certain memory.

What’s important is to just build up your knowledge base … the more information you have in your head, the more creative you’ll be — the bigger the pool of ideas you have to draw from.” – Neuroscientist Michael Grybko

Of course, not all knowledge carries equal weight for learning or creativity.

Your brain sends signals triggered by things like reading a paper book, scribbling marginalia, sketching, and taking notes on paper, that gives them more weight and importance for recall.

And I always come back to Austin Kleon’s creativity manifesto, Steal Like an Artist:

“…Nothing comes from nowhere. All creative work builds on what came before. Nothing is completely original….”

“Every new idea is a mashup or remix of one or more previous ideas….”

“Your job is to collect good ideas. The more ideas you collect, the more you can choose from to be influenced by.” – Austin Kleon

So take a break from the social media time-suck loop to reboot your brain.

“The truth is, most of us discover where we’re headed when we arrive.” – Calvin and Hobbes creator Bill Watterson

Kelton Reid

Kelton Reid is Vice President of Multimedia Production for Copyblogger, writer, podcaster, and mediaphile. Find out how great writers keep the cursor moving on his podcast The Writer Files, and find Kelton on Twitter.

Reader Comments (5)

I can always tell when my brain is getting ‘clogged’ because I can’t think of anything new…and then I go back to reading a book while commuting instead of scrolling Facebook, I read on my lunch break, or I make an effort to go somewhere new to explore. Works like a charm!

Taking a walk or even a long hot shower works for me. I try to also take Sunday to be off the computer completely. No social media at all. Just reading a book, taking walks, shopping or going out for a meal. Anything to be “normal” again.

It helps that I don’t live with a writer, actually. They remind me when I’m spending too much time on my laptop.